Drugs should be legalized

Affirmation

Negation

Government can tax it

Colorado legalized marijuana in 2017 and has raised over 1 billion dollars in taxes that go towards education. www.denverpost.com

REBUTAL: Government could tax a lot of things but doesn't mean they should be legal. Prostitution, slavery etc..

Drug War hasn't worked

Drug use is on the rise especially for heroin and methamphetamine www.source.com

Rebutal: Just because the success of fighting and criminalizing drugs has been difficult doesn't mean the opposite is the best solution. (Black and White Fallacy)

Criminalization of drugs has an overall negative effect on society

Addiction should be treated as a disease rather than a crime

Those convicted of non-violent drug charges can't find work after incarceration and often just return to drug related activities resulting in a cycle of drug use and conviction that has a negative effect on society rather than a treatment program and job opportunities to get them to be a productive part of society again.

According to FBI reports, Drug enforcement unfairly affects minority groups such as african americans with black people being convicted of drug charges more than twice as much as white people despite no differences between them in reported drug usage. www.hrw.org

Making drugs illegal doesn't reduce usage and just creates a dangerous and violent black market for their production and distribution.

Health benefits of some drugs

CBD oil has proven effective in helping those with chronic pain, anxiety and epileptic seizures. pubmed.com

Hallucinogens have been proven effective in helping those with crippling anxiety and depression. atlantic.com

Rebuttal: It's a minority of drugs that may have a health benefit and are already becoming legalized. However the majority of drugs pose health benefits and are largely solely addictive and destructive to the individual and society.

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